The World According To Measurements - 9

Fig. 1 It's a measurement

I. Who Needs A Ruler

Measurements tell us the answer to questions like: "Is the Earth flat?," "Is the Earth a globe?," "Is the Earth warming globally?," and "Did they make a first down?" (The World According To Measurements, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

At least that is the case for most people who read and who have an intellectual curiosity about where they are and where they are going (You Are Here).

In the realm of measuring things in the oceans, whether one is measuring temperature, salinity, sea level, etc., much work is done by scientists to determine how, when, why, and where to take such measurements.

Fig. 2a

Fig. 2b

Fig. 2c

Sometimes psychology, politics, economics, and other factors can thwart the best efforts to have a robust database of measurements.

The current regime composed of the ignoratti group is one example of that (The Shapeshifters of Bullshitistan, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

II. Different Types of Rulers

Different "rulers" are used when measuring ocean conditions.

The graphs at Fig. 2a - Fig. 2c show ocean measurements of temperature and salinity (bottom panes), sea level changes (upper left pane), and air temperature anomalies (upper right pane).

Compare them to measurements taken in pairs (salinity and temperature measurements gathered at the same time, at the same depth, and the same location) which were featured in a recent post (On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction - 31).

The "use every single measurement" and the "use only matching pairs" techniques are both valid but serve different purposes.

The measurements used in today's post are the former, the ones used in the recent post are the latter.

The matching pair measurement technique is required for accurate TEOS-10 calculations (e.g. Conservative Temperature, Absolute Salinity, Thermal Expansion and Contraction, etc.), but the use every single measurement technique serves the purpose of determining general mean average patterns.

III. Don't Mix Rulers

Quality measurements require quality techniques because different techniques tend to produce different patterns.

The point being made can be grasped by comparing the salinity measurement patterns of today's graphs ("use every single measurement") with those of the salinity patterns in my previous post ("use only matching pairs").

Yes, the mean average pattern of each technique varies because the measurement techniques are different (because there are two different purposes).

In the TEOS-10 post I used only pairs, which discarded a number of single measurements because they were missing an essential partner (i.e. some were a single temperature or a single salinity measurement without a matching partner).

Nevertheless, both are useful for their specific purpose.

IV. The Flat Earth Ruler

During the recent record cold temperature spell in some U.S. locations some of the ignoratti, such as Tuck Carlson, were all mystified as to why scientists were adamant that global warming is real when it is so cold in his home town right now (he needs to discover the global Earth reality: As the eastern U.S. freezes, Sydney bakes at 117 degrees — the hottest in eight decades).

These people need to get a grasp on measurements beyond their back yard (An X-factor in coastal flooding: Natural climate patterns create hot spots of rapid sea level rise, Antarctica Is Melting From Below—And It's Getting Worse, Listen to the military on climate change, Ecosystems Are Collapsing, Food Bowls Are Next).

They seem to be determined to make flatulence great again (Once Upon A Time In The West - 2).

V. Conclusion

The media are as much in denial as the government deniers are, in terms of how much they cover the impending threat to civilization (Climate change is the story you missed in 2017. And the media is to blame, How Broadcast Networks Covered Climate Change In 2016).

That will not change reality (Natural disasters caused record $306 billion in damage to U.S. in 2017), but one way or the other it will change civilization (Civilization Is Now On Suicide Watch, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

Make measurements great again!

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

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18th AMS Forum speech by Dr. Alley ...

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